The invention relates to a two-sheet, prefabricated wall unit, where the sheets are separated by spacing members, and which is mountable through means of a ceiling and/or floor slat that is to be secured to the room ceiling and/or room floor, as well as an installation procedure for installing these types of wall units.
Known types of two-sheet wall units of the kind mentioned include two plasterboard sheets whose inside facing surfaces are adhesively bonded to a honeycomb paper sheet, with their honeycombs running perpendicularly to the sheet surfaces. In order to transpose these wall units, a ceiling slat corresponding to the length of the wall to be constructed is secured to the room ceiling. In similar manner a continuous floor slat is secured to the floor in a vertically parallel orientation to the ceiling slat. The open space between ceiling and floor slat is less than the height of the sheet for the wall unit. At present, when observing the ceiling and floor slats from the front, each wall unit is set somewhat inclined and brought up from below into engagement with the ceiling such that the ceiling is contacted at both sides by the top edges of both sheets of the respective wall unit. Since initially the wall unit displays no groove, one is generated by forcing the honeycomb paper layer inwardly in the area of the ceiling slat when installing. Engagement to the ceiling slat is, however, possible only if the width of the ceiling slat is somewhat less than the free space between the two sheets. Finally, by straightening up the wall unit, its bottom edge is brought to bear on the floor slat and is attached to the floor slat in any convenient manner whatsoever.
Since the distance between room ceiling and room floor is subject to variations in the order of approximately 1 cm, gaps occur between the top edges of the sheets and the ceiling when emplacing the wall unit, which prevents their use in the case of already finished ceilings and is also unsatisfactory in the case of unfinished ceilings because these gaps can, in spite of careful, tedious filling and troweling, later give rise to formation of cracks. Additionally, auxiliary measures must be taken to eliminate play that may be present in the area at the top between the ceiling slat and the sheets. In summary, therefore, installing known type wall units is tedious work, where a clean ceiling-fit of top edges of the sheets is not possible.
The task set forth for the invention is obtaining an improved wall unit, making possible a cleaner mounting with less work, whereby the top edges of the sheets for the wall unit are in contacting engagement with the room's ceiling. This is achieved through a continuous ceiling groove in the upper narrow surface, as well as a floor groove, extending at least over a portion of the unit's width, starting out from one side of the unit that is to be pushed against an adjacent wall unit; through a certain separate piece of ceiling slat that is to be attached to the room ceiling for engagement with the ceiling groove, the piece of ceiling slat protruding over the side of the unit that is turned away from the side of the unit that is to be pushed upon, while, with the other end adjacent to the unit side to be pushed on, is correspondingly rearwardly displaced, and which displays on its protruding portion a further protruding wedge projection. The wedge projection extends diagonally downward immediately below this for the purpose of sliding a piece of ceiling slat that is associated to an adjacent unit; through a piece of floor slat that is to be attached to the floor horizontally, in a vertically parallel orientation to the piece of ceiling slat, the piece of floor slat being intended to engage with the floor groove; and through use of fastening elements for connecting at least one sheet with the piece of floor and/or ceiling slat after raising the unit into contact with the ceiling.
The advantage of the wall unit that is in accordance with the invention lies in the fact that it is not necessary to tip from the vertical to install (the wall unit). Moreover, the wall unit that is in accordance with the invention can be slid vertically, on its interfacing, sliding side, against an already installed wall unit. After fastening the piece of floor slat to the room floor, the wall unit can be easily tilted up by use of a simple tool, in particular a lever, until the top edges of the sheets come into contact with the room ceiling. In this position both sheets can be joined to the floor and/or ceiling slat pieces, preferably pinned (stapled), so that the position of the wall unit is fixedly in contact with the ceiling. No gap appears between the top edges of the sheets and the room ceiling, which would be tedious work to fill and trowel later. In this manner also, an application of the wall unit that is in accordance with the invention would be possible for already finished ceilings, for example in office buildings where, subsequently, another floor plan might be structured by building in intermediate walls. The only limitation here lies in the fact that a gap occurs between the lower edge of the wall unit that is in accordance with the invention and the floor, so that, when using the wall unit that is in accordance with the invention, start should always be from an unfinished floor, over which, at least in the transfer area, is later placed finished flooring along with a floor covering. With this prerequisite, the flooring covers the gap between the rough floor and the wall unit that is in accordance with the invention. In practical application it has been shown that, with the wall unit that is in accordance with the invention, a savings of up to 30% in the installation time, compared to the usual wall units, can be achieved.
Other and further objects of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon a study of the following specification, appended claims, and accompanying drawing.